noun
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informal a drinking bout
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taboo a male homosexual
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informal a makeshift shelter constructed by placing tarpaulin or plastic sheeting over bent saplings or woven branches
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of bender
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
And this latest fender bender might be the one that finally illuminates dashboard warning lights for those bosses who have always so hastily turned to Woods in the past.
From BBC ● Mar. 30, 2026
The damage included shooting down one of our own fighter jets and a carrier fender bender with a civilian ship.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jan. 23, 2026
Then, when I departed said strip mall and made a left-hand turn across four lanes of traffic, I hit another car—it was worse than a fender bender, but no one was hurt.
From Slate ● May 12, 2024
Ottavino grew up in New York City idolizing breaking-ball pitchers like David Cone and Orlando Hernandez on the Yankees, and wanted to have his own big bender.
From Seattle Times ● Apr. 25, 2023
“Dad, there’s gonna be a fender bender that’s gonna stall traffic. Let’s take a different route to school today.”
From "Split the Sky" by Marie Arnold
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Netta Levy, an eldercare adviser and founder of LifeCare Concierge, recently had a driving discussion with her mom, after a few fender benders.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 25, 2026
Eventually he finds his Earth Kingdom teacher, Toph, a blind young woman who is also one of the world’s greatest benders.
From Salon ● Jul. 8, 2026
Last year, Kinigstein managed to avoid any fender benders while driving to my house.
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 15, 2023
Jane, a 32-year-old Londoner whose name has been changed on request, said she would go on "trading benders" that lasted three to four days, which convinced her partner that she was having an affair.
From BBC ● Feb. 4, 2023
A hiker had fainted or fallen or some such thing, which had caused several fender benders, backing up traffic for miles.
From "A Tangle of Knots" by Lisa Graff
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Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.